Chapter 37: Even if the House of Zhu meets its end, the Donglin Party can still hold the world in its grip!

With that thought in mind, Zhou Yanru quickly collected his thoughts and asked, "What is it?"

Zhang Sizhi pondered for a moment before speaking. "The first matter is that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War approached me. He said that because of the issue with the nobility claiming pay for non-existent soldiers, they wanted to audit the accounts at the Capital Battalion and the Five Chief Military Commissions."

"To their surprise, they couldn't even get inside. The guards at the gates claimed that the Earl of Xinjian and the Earl of Xiangcheng were both ill and not receiving guests, telling them to return another day."

"They found it very strange. How could two people suddenly fall ill at the same time? Especially since they were the very ones who had joined in reporting other nobles for embezzlement just recently."

"The Ministry of War finds this suspicious, but given the recent events, they are hesitant to bring it up in court, so they wanted to ask for our opinion."

After Zhang Sizhi finished, Zhou Yanru’s brow furrowed. He also found it odd, as the Ministry of War’s actions were standard procedure and nothing out of the ordinary. Such audits had happened frequently in the past.

However, he did not dwell on it, assuming that Wang Xiantong and Li Guozhen had simply been frightened by the events of the past few days. After all, the Emperor had executed quite a few nobles recently.

With this in mind, Zhou Yanru said, "Tell the Ministry of War that the current situation is tense. Advise them to hold off on the audits for now to avoid creating unnecessary panic. Tell them to wait until this period passes."

Zhang Sizhi nodded in agreement without objection. "Very well, I will tell them shortly."

After a brief pause, Zhang Sizhi continued, "The second matter is that the Emperor has ordered ten thousand Guanning Iron Cavalry to be transferred to the capital. The imperial decree reached the Ministry of War early this morning."

"The Ministry wanted to consult the Cabinet first, but the eunuch delivering the decree was aggressive and used the Emperor’s name to pressure them. They had no choice but to comply."

What?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanru’s brow, which had just smoothed out, knitted together again. Deploying frontier troops to the capital without consulting the Cabinet—what was the Emperor planning? And wasn't there a war going on in Liaodong? If the Guanning Iron Cavalry were moved now, what would happen to the defense of Liaodong?

"Do you know why he is calling for the Guanning Iron Cavalry?" Zhou Yanru asked.

Zhang Sizhi shook his head. "I don't know. I only know that it was the Duke of Ying who went to Liaodong to deliver the imperial decree."

The Duke of Ying?

Zhou Yanru’s frown deepened. He truly could not fathom the Emperor’s intentions. Yet, he could not ask, as the Emperor was currently "gravely ill" and refusing to see any officials.

Should he go to the Crown Prince? That seemed futile; the Prince was young and had no experience with military affairs, so he was likely unaware of the situation.

After a moment, Zhou Yanru could only say, "Forget it. Leave these matters be. The decree has already been issued, and it is too late for us to stop it."

"I suspect the Emperor is doing this out of pure rage against the corrupt, rebellious nobles, hoping to use the Guanning Iron Cavalry to intimidate them. The cavalry won't be able to stay long before they have to return to Liaodong; after all, the war there requires them."

Zhang Sizhi nodded in quick agreement. "The Senior Grand Secretary is right; that is exactly what I thought."

Zhang Sizhi then returned to his duties. Clearly, neither of them took the matter to heart, nor did they give any thought to the "young" Crown Prince.

After Zhang Sizhi left, Zhou Yanru’s foul mood remained. The mere thought of the Emperor reviving the secret police agencies (the Factory and the Guard) gave him a splitting headache. He had lived through the era of Wei Zhongzhong, when the eunuch faction led by Wei had made life miserable for the Donglin Party. To squeeze out money, Wei had even dared to collect commercial taxes—was that not a threat to their very existence?

Although the Chongzhen Emperor currently had no intention of collecting commercial taxes, once the secret police were active, all sorts of monsters and demons would emerge. If some sycophant were to suggest it to him, the Emperor might well agree. After all, everyone knew the Emperor was desperate for money. The silver seized from the raids seemed like a lot, but the Ministry of Revenue had taken half of it today, and the rest would likely last no more than a year. The Ming Dynasty would still be broke!

Alas! Zhou Yanru sighed inwardly, unsure of how to resolve the situation. For now, it seemed the only option was to instruct his subordinates to continue spreading rumors about eunuchs interfering in government. If he made enough noise, he was certain these words would reach the Emperor's ears. Given the Emperor’s sensitive and neurotic nature, once he heard these rumors, he might abandon the idea of reviving the secret police.

Having spent decades in the imperial court, Zhou Yanru understood the Emperor’s personality all too well. As a true-blue member of the Donglin Party, he would serve the country diligently as long as his party’s interests were not at stake. But the moment their interests were threatened, he would favor the Donglin Party without hesitation. After all, the empire belonged to the Zhu family, not to them.

To speak quite bluntly—even if the Zhu family’s reign were to end and the world were to have a new master, scholars would still be needed to govern, would they not? In that case, the Donglin Party would still be able to control the world.

A faint smile touched the corner of Zhou Yanru’s lips at this thought.

***

At the Eastern Palace, nothing of great significance had occurred for Zhu Cilang today, save for a report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that the rumors from the previous day continued to circulate in the city. They asked if he wished to suppress them.

Zhu Cilang refused without a second thought, telling the Guard to ignore them and let the rumors spread. He knew that only by letting the rumors reach a wider audience would the *Ming Daily* achieve its true effect. So, for now, let the rumors fly a little longer.

Overall, it had been a rare day of leisure for him. However, as darkness fell, two unexpected guests arrived. They were none other than Wang Xiantong and Li Guozhen.

As for why they had to come at night? The reason was simple: they were terrified of being discovered by the other nobles. They had served as scapegoats for Zhu Cilang, causing all the other nobles to harbor intense resentment toward them. With the Duke of Ying having left on a mission, the nobles couldn't find him, so they had turned their anger toward the two of them, blocking the entrances to their homes so thoroughly that even their servants were pelted with bricks when going out to buy food.

Consequently, Wang Xiantong and Li Guozhen had not dared to return home for days, eating and sleeping at the Capital Battalion and the Five Chief Military Commissions. Even when coming to see the Crown Prince, they had to sneak in under the cover of night.

Zhu Cilang looked at the two men, finding the scene somewhat amusing, but he simply asked, "Speak. Why have you come to see me at this hour?"

Li Guozhen spoke first. "Reporting to Your Highness, I have carried out your orders to reorganize the Capital Battalion. After dismissing the old, weak, sick, and disabled, the current number of soldiers stands at 16,500."

"Combined with the thousands of retainers and servants confiscated from the households of other nobles, plus the 5,000 men that the Xue clan and others scraped together this afternoon, the Capital Battalion now has a total of 25,300 troops."

"I can guarantee that these soldiers are all young and physically fit."

"Furthermore, the warhorses and other military supplies previously 'borrowed' by the nobles have all been returned to the Battalion. There are now 3,500 warhorses, 5,100 muskets, 130 cannons, and various other supplies. The records are all in this ledger for Your Highness to review!"

Li Guozhen held out a booklet. Ma Bao quickly stepped forward to receive it with both hands and presented it to Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang flipped through it briefly, gaining a general idea of the situation. He had not expected the nobles to gather men so quickly. He had given them three days, yet they had finished in two. It seemed these fellows still had plenty of wealth! But then again, most of them had shared in the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty for over two hundred years; it would be impossible for their accumulated wealth to be limited to just that small amount of silver.